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You've been a lovely audience this year, but before we close out we've got a real treat for you. When this show made its debut as part of Amazon's Spring Pilot Season back in March, it killed; it currently boasts a remarkable 4.9 rating on Amazon after over 9,500 votes, but well before that, it was picked up for two seasons by the streaming service. Usually these things take about a year, but since those lazy bastards only made eight episodes before deciding they were all right with that...Ladies and gentlemen, coming to you from the creators of The Return of Jezebel James (and also Gilmore Girls and Bunheads), here is the first season and the incredibly boring key art of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel takes place in 1958 Manhattan, where Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan, coincidentally from the show Manhattan) prides herself on being a perfect housewife for her man Joel (Michael Zegen). Joel is...kind of a poo poo. His dream is to be a stand-up comic, and once a week he and Midge will leave their kids with her parents (Tony Shaloub and Marin Hinkle) and go to a club in the Lower East Side to hone what seems to be a solid routine. Midge bribes the owner with brisket, gets him a good stage time, he gets an acceptable amount of laughs, and he selfishly beams over what a great job he did while Midge dutifully analyzes the crowd to figure out how he could be doing better. Well, I won't get into details because it takes the entire first episode to get here, but poo poo goes down, and Midge finds herself wandering onto the club's stage one night, drunk off her rear end. She takes the mic in front of this tired post-midnight crowd and DESTROYS, garnering the attention of the manager, Susie (Alex Borstein). Susie thinks Midge has what it takes to make it as a comedian, and the reason why this show—or at least this pilot—works when so many other dramatizations about comedy fail is because Brosnahan is a motherfucking star. Her performance is electric; during the climactic routine she's hysterical, forceful, and impossible to look away from, and just a few scenes earlier she was so fragile and vulnerable, cracking jokes like she eventually would on stage, but in a way that seems helpless and almost pathetic. This is an Emmy-caliber performance, but even if it goes unrecognized, people are going to be talking about this character for a long, long time. That said, don't overlook Borstein's performance, either. As the potential Mickey to Midge's Rocky, she sells Susie's hard-earned cynicism well, so well that you can't help but get a little chill when she looks Midge in the eye and tells her "I know I'm right about this." This is one of the best pilots Amazon's ever done in my eyes, and I can't wait to watch the rest of it. The official release is tomorrow, but Amazon always puts the show up the night before, so if you can't sleep, why not treat yourself?
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Nov 29, 2017 05:32
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Oh poo poo, this is a Palladino joint? I'm in. also bring back bunheads
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Nov 29, 2017 05:59
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i am only just watching the pilot now because i got the feeling if i watched it earlier i would go stir crazy waiting for the rest. and i was right!!!!!!! this owns!!!!!!! i am all about brosnahan's performance
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Nov 29, 2017 10:34
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Oh poo poo Bailey De Young This is great so far. Brosnahan is incredible.
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Nov 29, 2017 11:35
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The set design is amazing, Getting all the cars and the other stuff must have cost a fortune.
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Nov 29, 2017 13:47
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Oh God, if this wasn't already fantastic enough, Wallace Shawn shows up in episode 5 and the role is perfect for him.
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Nov 29, 2017 15:05
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Oh nice, dig Wallace Shawn. From the pilot, which I loved, this is totally ‘imagine a Gilmore Girls style show, but set a bunch of decades ago, with boobs and swears’. Which I have no problem with at all. The guaranteed 2nd season only helps.
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Nov 29, 2017 15:59
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That promo art really doesn't sell the show at all. It looks like some knockoff Mary Poppins thing, but the OP makes it sound worth checking out.
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Nov 29, 2017 18:52
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e3: lmao this loving court scene
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Nov 29, 2017 22:32
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That dinner scene in episode 7 owns. Edit: the transition from episode 7 to 8 is loving perfect. Edit 2: And THAT'S how you end a season. God this was fantastic. So the next 8 are out in December? No? Oh  Brosnahan loving NAILED it. The normal acting was great but every time she was on stage was just perfect. Popelmon fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Nov 30, 2017 |
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Nov 29, 2017 23:16
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I finished this last night, and holy gently caress, I want more and I want it now.
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Nov 30, 2017 21:57
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Just finished it. This is one of the best seasons of TV I’ve ever watched. The lead is mesmerizing.
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Dec 1, 2017 08:19
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That first episode drunk routine sure was something. And she's right, what kind of moron walks out on Rachel Brosnahan. I made sure this was the first show to watchlist and watch after signing on to Amazon Prime, maybe this will help it not getting Bunheadsed.
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Dec 1, 2017 09:49
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gently caress i loved this show so much
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Dec 1, 2017 09:56
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CeeJee posted:And she's right, what kind of moron walks out on Rachel Brosnahan. Joel is such an epic little bitch and the cosmic judgement he receives for it is incredible and beautiful.
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Dec 1, 2017 15:06
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This was really good and I gotta re-iterate that Rachel Brosnahan is absolutely killing it!
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Dec 1, 2017 16:47
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This show is cool and good.
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Dec 2, 2017 19:53
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What are the spoiler rules? Can we talk about specifics yet?
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Dec 2, 2017 21:07
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Yo that was loving great and the end of episode 8 was just  I gotta say this is the first time a subway poster ad has ever gotten me to watch a show. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is an inspired title.
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Dec 2, 2017 23:15
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Maisel Man podcast when?
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Dec 3, 2017 00:32
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Malcolm Excellent posted:Maisel Man podcast when? I have been hammering the refresh button on my podcast app like crazy but nothing yet  .
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Dec 3, 2017 01:26
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I watched the pilot earlier this year and it was one of my favorite things I've watched in a long time. Brosnahan was fantastic on Manhattan and I'm really happy she's getting a chance to star in a show that might get her talents some serious exposure since nobody watched that show.
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Dec 3, 2017 03:34
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Finished it tonight. Lots of fun and liked it a lot. Cornerstone of show is Midge being on stage. Her gradual improvement (combined with the bombs) was similar to Kumail’s stand up in Big Sick. Highlights: -Excellent cast, perfect lead and Tony Shalhoub is delightful. -I cared about all the characters, even Joel at the end. -8 episodes was a good number, wasn’t rushed but no filler. -Lenny Bruce is charming. Downsides -Midge and the show’s writers seem to forget she has a baby. Their 4 year old son has a central part in the story, but Midge barely seems to care about her infant and Joel totally ignores her. -Some plotlines get built up, then dropped. Her dad never asks about the arrests, and his plan to buy their apartment with Kevin Pollak is abandoned. Overall excellent, looking forward to season 2.
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Dec 3, 2017 07:11
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Hyrax Attack! posted:
I mean have you seen her forehead? Yikes, I'd forget about her too
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Dec 3, 2017 07:27
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My wife and I are huge Gilmore Girls fans and are three episodes through and wow this is...rough. I didn’t think people would be so big on it We almost gasped out loud when a black woman in the fifties is shoved offstage mid performance so a rich white lady could complain about how oh-so-tragic her life is. That, and Tony Shaloub is the only one making interesting acting choices; the woman playing the lead is no Lauren Graham and Joel is borderline the worst Amy-Sherman actor Pretty average-to-bad show
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Dec 3, 2017 17:56
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I binged this compulsively. Brosnahan is so loving good in this, but so is everyone else, and the script's undulations of comedy and drama are carried really, really well. It's like Mad Men inverted, which I love because my favorite parts of Mad Men were the women and the culture. I particularly like how the characters walk a line between comical and real. They're funny and big and there are outlandish moments, but it all feels like it comes from a grainy, realized nexus of personality, like a great play a few weeks into the run. It's silly that her dad would have to climb over the books on his desk to talk to her, but it makes sense contexually and it has a satisfying and funny payoff. The script is always engaged on a couple different levels, and it's refreshing to hear dialogue that clips and bristles like this. It's written well and acted with spontaneity. Basically, I'm dying for season two. I'd like to see more awareness of social issues at the time - Sherman-Palladino is focusing on a very specific part of New York Jewish culture, which technically means there's a semi-realistic bubble, but it's such a whimsical show that it feels clumsy to not just have some non-white people in the cast. It's not a show about racial divide, except for the bit where she bombs by talking about her coworkers - the black poet being pushed off the stage obviously doesn't scan as a criticism of Midge's white privilege.
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Dec 3, 2017 18:56
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Hyrax Attack! posted:-Some plotlines get built up, then dropped. Her dad never asks about the arrests, and his plan to buy their apartment with Kevin Pollak is abandoned. I mean, he made the deal and then she came home that night and told her Joel offered to come back and she said no. Reading between the lines I'd say he knew it was over right then and just didn't go through with the deal. That's also apparent when he caved in on the second TV instead of telling his wife that he knew they weren't getting back together.
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Dec 3, 2017 20:39
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I don't think I'm in the target demo for this show. I overlooked the artwork in the OP in favor of the reviews in this thread but the artwork is a perfect representation of the show. Its a hoaky, throwback women's melodrama.
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Dec 4, 2017 05:15
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Well yeah, that's Palladino's whole schtick.
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Dec 4, 2017 05:28
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I really enjoyed the show on the whole but I was frustrated by how many plot points hinged on Midge acting uncharacteristically stupid or mean-spirited. I get her mouthing off to the judge since she's supposed to be impulsive, but her takedown of Jane Lynch felt unmotivated - Lynch was a little pretentious but hardly a villain - and there's no way that the girl taking notes in every nightclub she goes to wouldn't know not to badmouth an agent's star client right in front of him. Having Midge work brutal gigs in New Jersey sounded fun to see too, but the elastic plot keeps snapping Midge right back to the Gaslight.
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Dec 4, 2017 05:36
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I just finished this and it was wonderful. I was waiting the whole season for Joel to see Midge perform and spiral into despair and it did not disappoint. Give me season 2 now, thanks in advance. Edit: also, less Joel, more Midge tearing her way through the scene please Argue fucked around with this message at 10:13 on Dec 4, 2017 |
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Dec 4, 2017 09:35
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Tiny Brontosaurus posted:I really enjoyed the show on the whole but I was frustrated by how many plot points hinged on Midge acting uncharacteristically stupid or mean-spirited. I get her mouthing off to the judge since she's supposed to be impulsive, but her takedown of Jane Lynch felt unmotivated - Lynch was a little pretentious but hardly a villain - and there's no way that the girl taking notes in every nightclub she goes to wouldn't know not to badmouth an agent's star client right in front of him. "I told you she was spontaneous." Jane Lynch's character was a hack and a fraud. Of course Midge is going to take her down. And who cares about the power broker? The funny will win out in the end.
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Dec 4, 2017 10:37
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just finished episode 3 and it's fantastic gently caress marry kill: susie, lenny bruce, joel
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Dec 4, 2017 14:17
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precision posted:gently caress marry kill: susie, lenny bruce, joel Kinda just want to gently caress all of them tbh, buuuut: marry susie, gently caress lenny, kill joel (who else?)
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Dec 4, 2017 14:48
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Laterite posted:"I told you she was spontaneous." Nah, that's cheap. You're right that the show thinks that works, but it's cheap. There's a period element to Midge's shock that stars aren't their stage personas in real life, but the show seemed to think modern viewers would feel the same way. Who didn't see that fat suit? Lynch didn't trick me so I'm not mad at her and so Misge's takedown didn't feel like a victory. It would have been much more interesting to have Midge open for her, working rough clubs and having tension with Lynch about authenticity.
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Dec 4, 2017 17:57
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Tiny Brontosaurus posted:I really enjoyed the show on the whole but I was frustrated by how many plot points hinged on Midge acting uncharacteristically stupid or mean-spirited. I get her mouthing off to the judge since she's supposed to be impulsive, but her takedown of Jane Lynch felt unmotivated - Lynch was a little pretentious but hardly a villain - and there's no way that the girl taking notes in every nightclub she goes to wouldn't know not to badmouth an agent's star client right in front of him. Having Midge work brutal gigs in New Jersey sounded fun to see too, but the elastic plot keeps snapping Midge right back to the Gaslight. I don't think it's uncharacteristic, which is part of why I like the show so much, because Midge seems to have a genuine mean streak and I'm really hoping season two digs more into the messier side of Midge's character, which we've seen glimpses of. It's probably not a mistake (I hope it's not) that her first comedy guru is Lenny Bruce, who capitalized on his own sense of indignation and indignified himself to death in 1966. The degree of work, effort, upset, and torment everyone else goes through to feed Midge's typhoon of talent doesn't go undocumented in the first season and I find that really intriguing - it's hard not to think of Rod Serling's teleplay The Comedian - and it seems to be laying the foundation for an examination of those stresses. I like the ambiguity as well, in that Midge is fighting against social and cultural prejudices and arbitrary rules, but she's also both bitey and naive - Midge's biggest character arc is about learning that having natural talent doesn't make her superhuman, and that there's a sharp division between entertaining and being entertaining. Her brush with industrial comedy (lmao) is such a great, illustrative sequence.
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Dec 4, 2017 18:09
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My wife and I finished this show last night, and it became one of my top five favorite shows I watched in a very crowded, high-quality year. I loved everything about it -- the witty dialogue, the 1958 New York setting, the look back at stand-up comedy history (I'm a comedy nerd), the Jewish culture and humor, and future A-list megastar Rachel Brosnahan, who lit up our screen like so few actors can. I loved how Miriam's quest for self-actualization didn't include another romance, but she started making new friends, thinking for herself, questioning social mores, and embracing her own powers. One critic compared it to a superhero origin story, and that's actually spot-on. I had to go back and amend my TVIV Top Ten List twice -- once to add it as a late addition, and once more last night to propel it into my top five. It was SO GOOD.
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Dec 7, 2017 16:28
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Rachel Brosnahan got a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy Actress. Seems pretty good for a show so recently aired.
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Dec 11, 2017 18:58
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Good! She deserves it, and I hope she wins. Is it under Comedy or Drama? If it's comedy, then with Veep (it's done, right?) no longer running she might even win it, too! And an Emmy. I love Dreyfuss but I seem to recall any actress in the comedy category usually got hosed in terms of winning while that show was on the air.
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Dec 11, 2017 19:12
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Veep is still running
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Dec 11, 2017 20:00
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